Mystery of the Black Steed Circle
by Jack Noshima
Summary: After a strange man comes to Hogwarts after being chased by a mysterious man on a black horse, strange events begin to unfold that lead Harry and the gang down some dark and dangerous roads. Please RnR


(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the locations of characters used in the original books. I only own the characters I have created myself, those you who have read the books, which of course I hope most, if not all, of you have, will know what is original and what is taken from the books. I, of course, am not making a profit from this. This disclaimer might be a little longer than normal, but I feel it is a necessity)

(Author Note: Anyone who actively, or used to actively, follow my writing will know that I haven't written anything in a while. This has been due to school work and exams and lack of motivation. However, a friend of mine recently started to read some of my stuff and liked it, so that has given me a little more motivation to write again, and, rather than finish the HP Fanfic I did a while back, which I've lost the spark for, I thought I'd do this one. I hope you enjoy, and I'll try to finish this one.)

Chapter 1: The Coming Storm

The wheels bumped and bounced over the rocky road. The carriage upon then shook with every hit. The driver was going far too fast for the mountain road, and a less experienced driver would have gone over the sharp, steep edge miles ago. However this driver was not inexperienced, and had, in fact, been driving carriages all his life. His grandmother was of elven heritage, thus he had some of their blood running through his body. This did not create any physical side effects, such as pointy ears of different shaped pupils, but it did mean that his senses were sharper than that of an average human and his reaction time was a lot faster. It was because of these traits that he was now able to manoeuvre around this rocky mountain road so late at night. He was grateful that the road was concealed from muggle eyes, it meant he didn't have the problem of a car driving at him and killing everyone. The reason the carriage was going so fast was because of the man sat inside. Under normal circumstances, the carriage would have been quite luxurious, but, however, the man sat inside was now quite uncomfortable. Although uncomfortable, he was not concerned about that, he was concerned about reaching his destination as soon as possible though. The longer he was out in the open world, the more chance he had of being hunted down and killed, and, unfortunately for him, his hunters were drawing in close.

"Driver, you must move faster, we must reach the end of the mountain pass or else we will both surely die. After the end of the mountain pass, it is only a short distance to Hogwarts," the man in the carriage shouted out the window.

The driver did not look back, nor did he speak, in fact, the only acknowledgement he gave that he'd heard the man was he whipped the reins on the horses so they would move faster, despite moving nearly as fast as their bodies would allow.

Several miles back, along the same mountain pass, was a dark man straddled upon a horse that was as black as the night itself. He wore a full black cloak and, because of the night, not a living soul could see his face. He wore black leather armour, wielded a sword on one side, and his wand on the other. He was racing along the mountain pass at a speed just faster than the carriage, but not fast enough to catch up very quickly. He rode his black steed as hard as it would go. He knew, if he kept going at this speed, he would eventually catch up with the man in the carriage and kill him and the driver, before they reached the gates of Hogwarts. Both the man in the carriage and the dark man upon the black horse knew that the chase was on.

_____

Harry woke to the sound of thunder echoing through the hills. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room in the pitch black, not that he could even try to see anything without his glasses. He felt the bedside table and put his glasses on. He got out of bed and looked out the window. Against the deep, dark blue of the clear and starry night, in the distance, there black cloud approaching the castle. Harry felt a slight chill travel up the back of his spine, which had absolutely nothing to do with the cold. He felt troubled, like the storm wasn't just a storm, it was an omen of something very dark and very dangerous approaching. He shuddered off the ominous feeling and sat in bed. His mind was now too awake to sleep again, so he sat in bed and read a book about how to ensure the survival of frogs in an Antarctic atmosphere using magic. He didn't pick this book out on purpose; he just put his hand on any random book and decided to read it.

About an hour after Harry had started reading, he heard another drum of thunder. He decided to look out the window again, certain that the storm would be closer and the lightning would be something to see, as it normally was. As soon as Harry got to the window, there was a flash of lightning in the distance, it flew out of the cloud and shot across the sky, branching several times. Ever since he was a child, lightning had always fascinated Harry. There was another flash several seconds later. This time it shot across the sky in the opposite direction. This one curled back around on itself to form a magnificent pattern. Harry couldn't help but smile, despite the hairs on the back of his neck still standing on ends, and the ominous feeling of dread still lingering in the air, only it was stronger now, as if the feeling was coming from the approaching clouds. Then there was a third flash of lightning, however, it didn't come from the sky this time, it came from the ground. It was a short burst of electric looking energy that flew off far to the right of the castle. Harry knew instantly that there was something strange about it. He waited for it to happen again, and sure enough, it did. He immediately ran over to Ron and woke him up. After a moment or two of grumbling, they both looked out at the window together. There were another two flashes; however, they did not come from the same place. They came from two different places and met in the middle with a sound that was similar to the thunder.

"What is that?" Harry asked, squinting to see better, not that it mattered.

"Harry, I think they're spells, and they're getting closer to the castle," Ron said in realisation as two more bolts fired at each other, but this time closer to the castle. "And I think I can make out a horse and carriage."

"We've got to tell someone," Harry said, turning from the window.

Harry and Ron ran out of the dormitory and towards Professor McGonagall's office.

-----

The old man in the carriage was currently stood at its open door as it sped across the plains around Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He'd seen the first attack as it flew past the carriage, it was a very poorly aimed shot, and immediately flew open the door and began to counter the spells. He knew that he wouldn't be able to kill the man on the black horse; all he needed to do was keep him off the carriage until he was safely inside the barriers around Hogwarts. The driver never once flinched, he knew the man in the carriage was powerful, and he was too good at driving to let anything distract him. The man saw the Quidditch pitch and felt a calming moment of nostalgia that helped him to keep his mind focussed on the task at hand. He fired another bolt of energy at the attacker's spell, and then followed up with a second bolt. The first bolt hit the attacker's attack and countered it, and then the second bolt shot through it and hit the black horse. It stunned the horse, which went down to its side, throwing the dark man off the horse. The man in the carriage sighed with relief but never took his eyes of the dark man.

As he approached the castle, he felt himself pass through the barrier that would keep the dark man and his black horse out. He knew he was safe. He came up to the gates and passed through them. On the other side was a welcoming party. Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Argus Filch were all stood waiting for the carriage to arrive. The man got out and saw the group waiting for him and sighed with nostalgia.

"Please, all of you, there is no reason to be alarmed by me, I was chased across the mountains, and I came here to seek refuge. I will gladly explain everything if you will permit me. I, of course, will hand over my wand, so as to cause no alarm," the man from the carriage explained to them.

He took down his hood to reveal a middle aged man with a very old face. He had a light brown beard that was beginning to turn grey, his hair was long and dishevelled, but nothing about him seemed hostile. He seemed quite warm.

"I am glad that you welcome the precautions that we must take, this is a school and we do not often get visitors of your kind," Dumbledore explained softly.

"Of course, professor Dumbledore, I completely understand," the stranger said.

As the man said that, there was a very, very slight movement in Dumbledore's eye. No one, of course, noticed it, and no one had ever noticed it happen before, but it meant that Dumbledore knew something was amiss here and he had begun to think about all the possibilities that this could be and lead to. Severus walked forward and took the strangers wand. He also searched the driver but there was no sign of a wand. Dumbledore then led the group towards his office. Whilst walking through the Entrance Hall, Harry and Ron watched the procession from the top of one of the staircases. The stranger noticed the two sat there, and gave Harry a long, curious look, before turning his attention back to where they were going. Harry felt the need to shake off the look that the man had given him. Something about this entire thing unnerved him.


End file.
